Tswana - Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs.
Although Batswana received Christian missionaries in the early
nineteenth century (see "History and Cultural Relations")
and most belong to a church today, precolonial beliefs retain strength
among many Batswana. Missionaries brought literacy, schools, and Western
values, all of which facilitated the transition to migrant wage labor.
In precolonial times Batswana believed in a Supreme Being, Modimo, a
creator and director, but nonetheless distant and remote. More immediate
and having a greater influence in daily affairs were the ancestors,
Badimo. Ancestor worship was reflected in the respect given to the
elders and their capacity to influence the young; after death, their
spirits left their bodies to join others. Badimo were venerated and
invoked; appeals were addressed to them, and they were piacated with
sacrifices, prayers, and appropriate behavior. Badimo intervened
actively in daily life and they could withdraw their support, rendering
their descendants vulnerable to disease and misfortune. Most Batswana
today belong to African Independent churches that incorporate Christian
and non-Christian practices, beliefs, and symbols.

Religious Practitioners.
Most people have some knowledge of medicinal plants;
dingaka
(doctors; sing,
ngaka
), however, are specialists in healing and magic.
"Dingaka" is a collective term referring to many different
types of specialties, which among others include rainmaking, compound
protection, avenging sorcery, and women's reproductive health.
Formerly, dingaka presided over rituals and aided the chief in
protecting and controlling the village and tribe. Dingaka apprentice
with others, often paying them a cow. Many divine using a set of bones:
the interpretation of how they fall determines the source of a
patient's problem.
Baloi
(sorcerers; sing.
moloi
) manipulate substances for malevolent purposes. Baloi are believed to
work by day or by night; in the latter case, they meet together, often
transform into animals, and may cause their victims to do the same. Much
illness and misfortune is attributed to their powers. Practitioners of
the African Independent churches (e.g., a
baporafota
[prophet] or a
baruti
[minister or teacher]) also engage in healing. Their training is
considered less rigorous than that of the dingaka.

Ceremonies.
There are many ceremonies to mark lifecycle events: these include
birth, the end of the three-month postpartum confinement, several
marriage ceremonies, bride-wealth payment, and death. Increasingly,
funerals have become the most elaborate life-cycle rituals. Funerals
used to be conducted shortly after death but now the use of mortuaries
has enabled funerals to be postponed. Thus, the expectations in terms of
attendance, quality of coffin, and level of hospitality have escalated,
and many more people can be notified and material resources assembled.
Funerals have become one of the main venues for the expression of
cultural, time, and resource commitment, both on the part of the
aggrieved family and those attending, who are expected to work at the
funeral and who expect to be fed. In the past initiations into adulthood
were elaborate ceremonies lasting a few months, in which girls and boys
were taken separately to the bush in the winter. The boys were
circumcised. Other ceremonies tied to the agricultural cycle, such as
those to initiate planting, to make rain, and first-fruits rituals, are
no longer regularly practiced.

Arts.
There are few specialized arts. Beadwork is practiced by some, and
children are often adorned (sometimes for protection from malevolent
forces) with beads and other decorations. Compounds and houses are often
beautifully designed and painted. Song (
pina
) and dance (
pino
) are highly developed forms of artistic expression. Choirs perform and
compete with each other on official and ritual occasions. They compose
lyrics that offer narratives and critiques of the past and present. (See
also "Industrial Arts.)

Medicine.
Batswana have an extensive local pharmacopoeia. Medicines (
ditlhare
["trees"] or
melemò
) are used for treating ailments in humans and animals, for
fortification, protection, fertility, injury, making rain, and so on.
Batswana seek medical help from a number of sources, including clinics
and hospitals, traditional practitioners, and Christian healers. Western
medicine is more or less universally acknowledged for its ability to
treat symptoms, but other healers are frequently sought in order to
address the causes of illness and misfortune. (See "Religious
Practitioners.")

Death and Afterlife.
Death is usually considered to have both natural and supernatural
causes. Traditionally, men were buried in their cattle kraals and women
in the compounds. Small children were buried under houses. Many people
are still buried in this fashion, although cemeteries are increasingly
used. Funerals are highly elaborated, expensive, and can last up to a
week (see "Ceremonies"). Livestock are slaughtered during
the funeral to feed guests. Priests and, often, traditional healers
preside over funerals, administering rites to the bereaved that are
directed toward exorcising thoughts of the dead from the living so that
they will not "go mad" from their grief. After death,
elders become ancestors (Badimo) (see "Religious
Beliefs"). People who die with regrets are believed to become
ghosts (
dipoko
); their souls remain in the grave by day but rise at night to haunt the
living.

A Tswana learner from our school passed away. She overdosed in the hostel but died in the hospital. We want to know, as members of the school, if we should attend the funeral en how long would we need to stay at the funeral? Can we only show our respects at the house and then leave, or do we have to attend the actual burial? We were asked to say something about the child. When and were do I do it? What should one include in this speech?

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